Monday 29th August

Do you know the canelé? They are a regional speciality of
Bordeaux - little squishy cakes soaked in rum and caramelised on the
outside. As I understand it, Bordeaux was the important port for French
trade with the Caribbean: hence the invention of a cake stuffed with rum,
sugar, and vanilla. They have a distinctive shape, a sort of
twelve-petalled cylinder. The first time I encountered them was as a petit
four at a rather lovely restaurant just outside Bordeaux, where I might
have made the mistake of passing them over for the more immediately
appealing chocolate or fresh-fruit goodies had I not been in the company
of locals... Since then I've been hooked. They are moist and delicious,
with actually quite a subtle eggy-vanilla flavour, like a wonderful home
made custard. I do in fact have a recipe for canelés, carefully
and generously handwritten in that very distinctive French handwriting. So
all I need is the moulds - you can buy (in France or online, rather than
down your local Woolies) beautiful individual copper ones or sheets of
practical silicon ones. When my boat comes in... Meanwhile I have at least
found a supplier of the finished product, a french lady on an unnamed
stall at Borough Market. I wanted four (well, they're only little), she
had five left - what can I say? I left with five. Mine, all mine! If you
see them, I advise you to snap them up, too.

Monday 22nd August

Today, Matthew, I am going to be: Rachael Ray. Who she? Well, Sam
at Becks and Posh
explains it better than I could. Inter alia, (i.e. when not posing in her
underwear doing slightly obscene things to a spoon) Rachael Ray presents a
travel/food programme on American television in which she visits a city
and eats as well as possible whilst spending no more than $40 a day.
That's about £22. Sam's challenge - under the Dine and Dish meme -
was for us to match this feat in our own area. Well, London is notoriously
expensive, the dollar is weak, and there are approximately three days a
year when it would be feasible - warm enough and dry enough - to follow
Sam's money-saving tip and eat a sandwich in the park. Oh, and as I may
have mentioned, my local area is not well-endowed with
gastro-temples. But the harder the challenge got, the more interesting it
looked, so here we are: Rachael Does East London For Less Than Twenty-Two
Nicker.

To eat well in England, said Somerset Maugham, eat breakfast three times a
day. That may not quite be necessary these days. But it is true that the
new English cuisine (perhaps bizarrely, since the best of it depends on
immigrant cuisines substantially vegetarian in origin) is heavily
meat-based. Each of the places we visited had adequate vegetarian options,
but for a Londoner, it really wouldn't seem strange to have bacon
for breakfast, sausages for lunch and kebabs for dinner. Ready?

Breakfast: Café Olympic, Stratford Broadway E15

What better way to start the day than a traditional English breakfast?
London is covered in authentically greasy caffs where you can buy a huge
plate of fried food and a mug of builders' tea (very strong and very
sweet) for less than the loose change you find down the back of the sofa
when you wake up. Such breakfasts cover all the major food groups; fill
you up at least until elevenses; and cure all hangovers. In honour of
Stratford's new Olympian status, we visited Café Olympic and
feasted on the Olympic Special Breakfast: your choice of four items from
eggs (fried or scrambled), baked beans, sausage, black pudding, bacon,
mushrooms, or tomatoes, plus tea and toast, for £3.80. The caff was
warm, light and clean, the service friendly, and the food generous,
unpretentious and satisfying. Don't come here for the finest organic
gourmet fare fresh from the farmyard, nor for buck's fizz and
strawberries; but if you're visiting London and need a hearty breakfast
before heading up to the West End, you should experience this at least
once. The toast's hot, and the coffee isn't instant.

Cost: £3.80

Lunch: S and M Café, Brushfield Street E1

Spitalfields is a very
jolly area to stroll around, just at the City end of East London. Lovely
market, little trendy shops - and a good number of places to pick up some
lunch. If it's sunny enough to walk and eat at the same time, you'll have
dozens of choices, but if the weather's more typical, I recommend The S and M Café on
Brushfield Street. No sniggering at the back there - that's S and M as in
Sausage and Mash. In order to conduct a thorough test (that's my story and
I'm sticking to it) we went for the full bangers and mash, though there
are cheaper/lighter options if you prefer.

Two 'London traditional' sausages, bubble and squeak mash (that's with
cabbage) and a rich onion gravy came to £5.75. Mushy peas on the
side, or 'gourmet' sausages (choices included organic, chicken and pepper
or pork and feta) would have been a pound or so extra. The sausages are
perfectly cooked, meaty and slightly spiced. Don't forget a good dollop of
the dijon mustard 'with chablis' which sits on every table (the only hint,
before the menu arrives, that this isn't your everyday greasy spoon -
otherwise the brown sauce bottles, wipe-clean gingham table cloths and
framed Picture Post covers on the walls are straight from central
casting). A bottle of Victorian lemonade was a bit steep at £2.80,
but seemed the perfect accompaniment. We rolled out of the door with no
thought for pudding - but my sweet tooth couldn't resist the charming
delicatessen next door, which from outside is the image of a real
old-fashioned sweet shop. We handed over our pocket money for a bag of
white mice to nibble as we window-shopped - and to complete the time-warp
sensation.

Cost: £9.05, Running total: £12.85

Dinner: New Tayyab, Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel

A short tube ride east, this place is a bit of a legend. The large
Pakistani and Bangladeshi community around Whitechapel/Brick Lane make it
the best place in the UK (outside Birmingham, perhaps) to eat South Asian
food. Even so, Tayyab stands out for its authenticity - miles away from
the standard English 'curry' - and rock-bottom prices. At peak times you
may have to queue, but it shouldn't be for long; and if the sight and
smell of other diners' food has made your stomach rumble you can start
tucking in as soon as you get your table - poppadoms (a mix of plain and
peppery/cumin), relishes and onion salad are provided automatically and
instantly.

You can't do better, here, than to share several small dishes - £2-3
each - between you. Some meat, some fish, some dhal and a couple of naan
breads to scoop it up with. Masala fish was particularly good, but then so
were the juicy, coriander-scented lamb kebabs, and the earthy baby
aubergine and yellow lentil dhal, with heat provided by one lethal-looking
whole chilli. The tandoori naans are puffy and soft, with ghee spooned
over them, and encourage you to wipe every dish clean. The lack of a
licence couldn't bother us less - it's lovely to have waiting staff who
aren't motivated by making you thirstier so you'll order more beer, and
besides, the mango lassis are superb.

After that, I defy you to eat another crumb. Stroll on home to your East
End manor bang on budget (everyone knows 5p coins are far too small to
bother with!)

Cost: £9.10, Final total: £21.95

Sunday 21st August

Oh my, what an indulgence. This little slice of cake was £3.95 from
the Grocer on Elgin - an extremely chic food boutique in Notting Hill.
They sell what can only be described as ready meals - but restaurant-style
food in the most gorgeous packaging, so the too-posh-to-stir brigade
needn't even hide them before the guests arrive. I couldn't resist this,
which reminded me of the fig and walnut cake I love to buy in Spain. Only
this one isn't rustic by any stretch of the imagination... figs, apricots
and prunes, layered oh so carefully with almonds, walnuts and
the greenest pistachios for maximum visual impact. Not a case of style
over substance, though; very moreish (not at that price I won't, though).
Fab with a sneaky glasslet of something sticky, though I'd bet a chunk of
manchego would have been a good match, too.

Tuesday 16th August

Stratford's ok. I'm buying a small slice of house there, I must see
something in it. That something, however, is not Nice Establishments In
Which To Meet Friends For Sunday Lunch. Bless its cotton running socks, it
has a Cafe Olympic, but for a good old fashioned recently renovated
gastropub with a wine list and carefully mismatched furniture, it's not
your place. For that we scurry back to the ancestral hunting ground better
known as N1. The Barnsbury, on Liverpool Road, is a good solid
example of just such a pub. Wooden floors, lovely chandeliers made of
suspended wine glasses, those old chairs rescued from churches (with the
space on the back for your hymnbook). Not too busy on a high summer
weekend (slightly surprising as they'd insisted on our coming for a first
or second sitting). A salad of pickled orange was the most intriguing
starter, with a good mix of sweet orange, sour dressing and hot chilli. My
main stood out from the Sunday lunch classics, too: grilled red mullet
(rapidly becoming a favourite) with red pepper and a wonderfully saffrony
aioli. The dessert list was a lot less interesting - neither classic Brit
puds nor any spark of originality - but they were well executed. The
cheesecake was particularly good, but crème brulée and apple
tart had their supporters. Considering it's not just around the
corner, it isn't great enough to become a regular haunt - but if it's
local for you, it'd make a lovely one.

Monday 15th August

It isn't nice, I know, to draw pedantic attention to the minor foibles of
other people's English. But this is just cute. Or perhaps filthy -
'Love Well'?!. Either way we made a rather finger-licking supper from
this juicy little charantais melon, pairing it with serrano ham; fresh
goat's curd cheese from Neal's Yard; and garlic bread and muhummara - the
latter two inspired by Meg at Though
Small, It Is Tasty. As ever, I couldn't quite obey instructions -
well, Meg admitted to adapting Paula Wolfert's recipe, so I did the same
to suit my collection of ingredients. Here's my version - but you must
visit Meg for the garlic
bread, because it's very good indeed.

Monday 8th August

All those things I've been cheerfully pretending I can do? My bluff got
called. Speak French? Drive? Cook? Go on then. All at once. In France. For
twenty four people. Terrified? Yes. Can't wait? Exactly. So I apologise if
between now and then it all gets a bit repetitive around here: I'm
handling it by organising it, i.e. reading everything I can find about the
food of South-West France; whittling it down to a dozen multipliable
meals; and practice, practice, practice. Over the weekend we particularly
enjoyed making clafoutis. Once the cherries were stoned (and that's
tedious, but hardly hard) it was a walk in the park. The batter was sweet,
dense and eggy at the bottom, lighter and crisp where it oozed up around
the fruit. It would be very easy to vary it to the available fruit, and
it's all the nicer for sitting for a bit after cooking.

Stone the cherries, sprinkle them with a little sugar and brandy. Butter a
shallow dish and sprinkle the rest of the extra sugar over it, shaking
well to coat the sides as well as the bottom. Whisk together the eggs,
flour and sugar; add the milk and mix well. Melt the butter, skim off any
froth, and add to the batter. Leave to stand for half an hour - meanwhile
heat the oven to 180. Scatter the cherries over the bottom of the dish and
pour the batter over them. Bake for 35 minutes until golden and puffy.

Saturday 6th August

Brown paper packages tied up with string are, surveys show, among almost
everybody's favourite things. Let the package contain carefully
created or selected foodie treats, as per Euro Blogging By Post,
hosted by Andrew of Spittoon,
and my cup runneth over. I really enjoyed putting together my parcel for
Dagmar of A
Cat in the Kitchen and was delighted to see it had arrived safely in
Sweden. (Was that the furthest, Andrew?) But nothing could compare to
getting my hands on my very own parcel, lovingly prepared by brand-new
blogger Zabeena of A Lot on
my Plate. As I snipped the string I was saying to myself, "now what
shall I have for lunch?" Little did I guess the answer was about to
present itself... A pretty little pot of home-made apple and mint chutney
(from home-grown apples, no less! A real treat for a city girl like me),
delicious Lightwood
Chaser cheese from an artisan cheesemaker in Worcestershire and hearty
sourdough rye bread to connect the two. The chutney is fruity, spicy and
deliciously minty, and the cheese creamy yet full-flavoured. It made an
excellent lunch - so many thanks to Zabeena, welcome, and good luck with
the blog. And roll on the next EBBP...

Tuesday 2nd August

I want to share with you what the late, great Alan Davidson says about
cheeks:

"The cheeks of animals, for example of the pig, because they
usually yeild rich, savoury juices, are a good choice to include in stews,
pies and sausages. However, because cheek muscles are exercised
constantly, the meat tends to be tough and may need long cooking. Cod
cheeks, on the other hand, are tender morsels, perhaps because cod are not
eating all the time and do not exercise their cheeks in making
noises."

So in the Basque region hake cheeks are a particular delicacy. And so, of
course, I felt compelled to order them. What are they like? Um...
interesting. Tender? I suppose so. Each one is a teeny piece of meat with
a blob of gelatinous stuff attached. Not quite like oysters and not quite
like snails (though as with snails, the large amount of garlic and parsley
in which they had been cooked helped considerably). Let me just say that I
am glad to have had the experience (especially the mime performed by the
waiter trying to ensure that I knew what I had ordered - he didn't
actually say 'not for tourists', but the thought was there - as it was the
highlight of a rather snooty and overpriced meal). But I won't feel any
urgent need to repeat it.